Gay issue group rejection sparks ire at Berry College | AJC

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Gay issue group rejection sparks ire at Berry College

By NORMAN AREY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/09/04

ROME — Last year, Berry College's theater company staged "The Laramie Project," a play about the murder of a gay college student in Wyoming. Several students, moved by the play and the discussions it inspired, decided to organize a campus club to talk about issues involving homosexuality.

Their group, called Listen, won approval from the Student Life Council, a student-faculty group that oversees campus activities. Listen was the first gay issue group to win the council's endorsement.

But the school's Board of Trustees rejected Listen, saying they felt it was an advocacy group for homosexuality.

That angered some students.

"Listen is not an alliance of gay/lesbian people. In fact, all of the founders are heterosexual," said sophomore Chris Duke, a founder of the proposed club. "It's a group that was formed to hold discussions about sexuality and specifically homosexuality and gay/lesbian issues."

Several gay students say the rejection of Listen reflects antipathy they face at the respected 102-year-old, independent, interdenominational college on 28,000 acres in the northwest Georgia foothills. Berry's student body, they say, has grown more conservative in recent years.

More at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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1. Berry Trustees and previous concerns from alumnus

((this is the first I've heard of a Berry College))

I believe the former Deputy Atty General under Ashcroft came from the law form of King & Spalding ; and, that that law firm had handled enron affairs ( Deputy AG Larry Thompson Tied to Enron http://democrats.com/view.cfm?id=5502 )

... conservative, multi-Board favorite son (GE, Dell, ChevronTexaco, Coca-Cola, etc.), mock disaster President, and Barrick Gold Advisor (and oft mentioned Democrat VP choice by some DUers),
Sam Nunn is a Senior Partner at King & Spalding.........

anyhoo ... gives one a "clue" of 'the mindset' of the Berry trustees; (and more evidence that we need a good ol'boy flushing out of all of our Institutions) ... we need some 'revolts' on the local level to truly change the mismanaged direction of our future ... from school boards to college campuses to city councils and state legislatures ...


James M. Sibley
Partner, King & Spalding (Retired)
Trustee Emeritus and Former Board Chairman, Berry College

Should a body of reputable business people with no connection to Berry make all decisions about Berry

some Trustees are found in this list

W. Glenn Cornell (62C), Chairman

Senior Vice President, Bank of America
Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees , Berry College
Member, Campaign Planning Committee

James H. Blanchard
Chairman of the Board and CEO, Synovus Financial Corporation
Former Member, Board of Trustees, Berry College
Parent of a Berry Graduate

Martha Wyatt Bowen (55H, 59C)
Past President, Berry Alumni Association
Member, Campaign Planning Committee

G. Bert Clark Jr. (82C)
Senior Advisor, Estate Strategies Group
Member, Board of Trustees, Berry College
Past President, Berry Alumni Association

James R. Dellinger
Chairman, Dellinger Management Corporation
Chairman, Board of Visitors, Berry College
Member, Board of Trustees, Berry College
Parent of a Berry College Student

Dr. E. Kay Davis Dunn (57C)
Founding Executive Director, Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Dr. John R. Grout
David C. Garrett Jr. Associate Professor in Business Administration
Chairman, Department of Management, Campbell School of Business, Berry College

Karen Holley Horrell (74C)
President of Corporate Services and Director, Great American Insurance Company
Member, Board of Trustees, Berry College
Member, Campaign Planning Committee

Burl T. Horton (65A, 72C)
Founder, Torrey Homes
Member, Board of Trustees, Berry College
Parent of a Berry College Student

William B. Johnson
Chairman, W.B. Johnson Properties
Member and Former Chairman, Board of Trustees, Berry College

Roger W. Lusby III (79C)
Partner, Frazier & Deeter, LLC
Chairman, Planned Giving Council

Susan Byrd Martindale (73C)
Member, Board of Visitors, Berry College
Community Leader

Barbara Mote McCoy (61C)
Community Leader

Ted A. Owens
Executive Vice President-Containerboard, Inland Paperboard and Packaging, Inc. (Retired)
Past Chairman, Board of Visitors, Berry College
Member Campaign Planning Committee

Chester A. Roush Jr.
Real Estate and Financial Investor
Trustee Emeritus, Berry College

Wayne Shackelford (55C)
Senior Vice President, Gresham, Smith & Partners
Former Commissioner of the State of Georgia Department of Transportation
Member, Board of Visitors, Berry College

James M. Sibley
Partner, King & Spalding (Retired)
Trustee Emeritus and Former Board Chairman, Berry College

Dr. Jennie M. Smith
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Chairman, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Evans School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Berry College

William B. Stokely III
President and Chairman, The Stokely Company
Chairman, Board of Trustees, Berry College
Parent of a Berry Graduate

Martha Berry Walstad
Partner, Lake Toccoa Development Company
Member, Board of Trustees, Berry College
Great Niece of Martha Berry, Berry College Founder

http://www.berry.edu/campaign/committee2.asp

Date: October 06, 2003 02:14 PM
Author: C. William Gee (01C)
Subject: clud denials lead to reform questions

Berry College Renegade Press

October 06, 2003

Subject: club denials lead to reform questions

The recent decision by the Board of Trustees to disallow two student clubs previously approved by the Student Life Council (made up of student/faculty/administration members). The decision by the BOT was ostensibly because both clubs were 'advocacy' groups and advocacy groups are apparently not appropriate for Berry students. I guess the BOT wants students to accept the status quo and never change or do anything other than pay tuition and get a job?

This is strange, as an article in the Campus Carrier also pointed out a few weeks ago, considering the SLC has in the past few years approved clubs advocating the Libertarian political agenda, Mormon religion, homelessness/hunger prevention, boxing, and dozens of others, not to mention all of the other clubs that already exist on campus--all of which advocate something in one way or the other.

Perhaps this, if nothing, else should bring up a debate among alumni about who should run the college. Should a body of reputable business people with no connection to Berry make all decisions about Berry, or should alumni, faculty, students, and staff with a true connection to the college, who have actually spent more than 4 days a year on campus make these decisions? If I remember correctly, Martha left the college to her students in her last letter...not to a group of businessmen who live hours away and in other states who rarely step on campus or meet with faculty, students, and alumni for more than 5 minutes.

I know that the BOT raises tons of money and brings attention to Berry, but I think if they wanted to help Berry in that way they could serve on the Board of Visitors and do those tasks and be relieved of the burdens of planning for the college. If I remember the BOT membership correctly, only 1-2 are alumni, none are in academia or have ever served in it, none are educators, none are active in agriculture or veterinary fields, none are in the arts, and none are in humanities/social science related fields. They are all in business...probably why the entire Campbell trust went to the business school in the mid-90s when there were plenty of other needs on campus.

Maybe I'm wrong, but could it be time for Berry to revise its legal documents to create a Board of Trustees that actually represents Berry and it diversity of disciplines, alumni, and students. Could it be that the reason Alumni giving is something less than 30%, a horribly low rate among colleges, is that we've lost faith in the college to use our money wisely or operate the way that alumni, students, and faculty want???
http://www.berryalumni.com/Forums/Thread.cfm/Thread_ID/274/mc/1